"Hancock"

Jenn and I saw Hancock on opening night, yesterday. Short and sweet version: It met expectations (Jenn says it didn’t quite meet her expectations, but close).

If you saw the previews, and how could you not if you own a TV or a computer, then you’ll be happy that they didn’t bait and switch like so many other movies do. A lot of the preview scenes occur during the first third to half of the movie, so there’s plenty that you don’t already “know” to see.

Spoilers Ahoy, but if you’ve seen the previews, then you’re safe. If you haven’t seen the previews and you want to go to the movie fresh, stop reading.

Hancock was fundamentally about the human condition rather than a straight up super hero action film. (I’m going to go out on a limb here because my observations may seem redundant to people who read a lot of comic books. I don’t therefore my insightful thoughts may be old hat.) Hancock is a super-being who is invulnerable, can fly, and is super strong. He is also alone, and the scenes of him as a drunken wino in the previews were, I think, the most telling part of the movie. Here is a guy who is fundamentally separate from the human race; he has no real brotherhood with anybody. He can take whatever he wants, and no one could stop him (there’s a scene which reflects on that). Think about how that could mess with your psyche! You’ve got skillz, but you don’t actually belong. There’s some deep-seated moral issues there that the movie touched on, but didn’t fully explore. I found myself wishing that I had had this idea five years ago, and had written about it. It’s a fascinating topic to explore, although I don’t think my ending would have been as happy as the movie.

Anyway. It was a good movie. I enjoyed it and would see it again in the theater. There were some weird things about it, though. For one, it’s rated PG-13 but I could swear I heard one of the characters say “fuck”. I thought that was an instant “R” rating? Beyond that, there was a lot of “shit” and “asshole” in the dialogue, plus the violence level was quite high, but other than the “fuck” I suppose they hit the PG-13.

I wondered during the movie where Hancock got his money. At no time does he ever do anything that might earn him cash, so how does he purchase his liquor? Hmmmm…

Another nitpick was… never mind. It’s a spoiler. Let’s just say that there was an abrupt character transformation that they milked a bit heavily to provide some slapstick. I thought it was over done in that scene.

It was good. Go see it.

14:21 Edit: I totally forgot to mention something! If you have an advanced degree, especially if you’re a college professor, there is a scene in this movie that you have to see/listen to. It’s a must. You will be tickled pink, I promise.